Cherry picking started last week in southern Door County, and cherries are ripening more each day up the bayside of the peninsula and gradually down the Lake Michigan side. Local growers say there will be plenty of cherries despite the bite of a brutal winter causing tree losses at many orchards.

“We had a real nice crop last year, and we’re really blessed to have two nice crops in a row,” said Jim Seaquist, co-owner of Seaquist Orchards, Sister Bay, Door County’s largest producer.

Last year Door County harvested 11 million pounds, Seaquist said. That’s a hefty comeback from less than 2 million pounds in 2012. But last year’s freeze-over of the bay took away a cushion of warm water and air and the cold killed many cherry, apple and peach trees on the peninsula.

“Sweet cherries are usually the tenderest trees, and we knew they were in trouble,” he said. “Tree losses are never spread fairly among growers. Some were not affected much and some quite a bit.”

Seaquist had entire varieties of apple trees that died due to last winter’s cold weather, including golden delicious, gala and jonagold. But his largest crop – Door County’s tart Montmorency cherries used in desserts – are plentiful despite the loss of some older, weaker trees.

Just south in Fish Creek, Lautenbach’s Orchard Country Winery and Market began handpicking sweet and tart cherries for this weekend. They won’t start shaking their trees for harvest until Aug. 1, a week later than normal, Bob Lautenbach said. Their pick-your-own orchard is scheduled to open next weekend, and Lautenbach said they have a very good crop. But he did lose some sweet and tart cherry trees and apple trees.

Closer to the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula, John Zettel of Zettel Farms lost 700-1,000 cherry trees to the cold. Zettel has 15 acres closer to Baileys Harbor and 75 acres west of Jacksonport. His pick-your-own signs will direct motorists off Wisconsin 42 to his early tart cherries at 7224 Memorial Drive in the town of Egg Harbor.

“This is the biggest tree loss I ever had,” Zettel said. “It seems like the oldest trees took it the hardest.”

His peach trees suffered most with 75 of 100 trees gone, but his cherry crop is good. It takes six to seven years to get a tree back into production so growers will fill the impact for years to come. Zettel said the winter’s wind chill was a factor in determining which trees died. Those more sheltered survived.

“I know when the wind is blowing, it affects me,” he said. “I’m definitely colder. Where my peaches are in a hollow, the tree is alive.”

Commercial growers can apply for and receive assistance for losses under a tree assistance program (TAP) through the USDA. Door County Farm Service Agency Executive Director Tim Siehr said the tree losses in Door County are extensive and widespread. Michigan, another large cherry and fruit producer, suffered similar losses, Siehr said. Trees were compromised going into last winter with last year’s heavy harvest, previous drought and then extreme cold, he said.

“This is the first time growers have seen this extensive tree loss,” Siehr said. “There’s a good many affected in both sweets and tart. A number of growers were much harder hit than others.”

One grower north of Sturgeon Bay lost 60-80 percent of a 14-acre block of cherry trees, he said. That’s 800 of 1,000 trees.

Growers who estimate a loss of at least 18 percent can apply for TAP and so far he has received eight applications in Door County, but others are on their way. At this point, a tree may still have part of the canopy and be alive, but weak. Some orchard owners wait until closer to the Jan. 31 deadline to claim their losses.

One grower who filed a claim was Gary and Karen Alexander of Alexander’s Cherry Orchard, Brussels. They have 20 acres in southern Door County and out of 2,000 trees, the Alexanders lost more than 650 trees. The damage is evident from the road, where fresh stumps can be seen amid a now-sparse orchard of 32-year-old trees that once faced 2786 S. Stevenson Pier Road. Karen grew up in the cherry business and the couple bought the orchard from her parents, Eric and Marie Matzke, in 1979.

“You get the lake-effect wind on one side and the bay on the other,” Karen said.

A block of trees closer to the bay on Rileys Bay Road are heavily laden with cherries. Those in the the open area subject to wind were hit hard.

But the Alexanders and other orchard owners remind visitors not of the losses but the cherries that are now ready and plentiful.

“The crop is good. We started picking today,” she said of their pick-your-own orchard that opened Wednesday. “Anybody with large acreage is fine. Just for us, we had the misfortune of losing some, but what we have is good.”

Another Southern Door orchard in Brussels that suffered tree losses was Paradise Farms that opened their pick-your-own and ready-picked cherry orchard Monday. The parking lot was filled with vehicles Thursday as pickers scrambled up ladders to pick the 30 acres of tart and sweet cherries at 2565 County C.

Dan and Crystal Willming, owners of Paradise Farms, said about one-quarter of their sweet cherry trees were lost to the harsh winter.

“Blossom time was good. They had a heavy blossom, but the tree never pushed out leaves and without leaves you can’t produce cherries,” Crystal said. “Now they look dead. The branches are bare.”

“All the tarts seem OK and the young trees are fine,” she said. “Because of the winter we have fewer trees to work with, so our crop will go faster. The season won’t go as long.”

The damaged trees were hardly noticed by pickers who reached for the red, gold and blush cherries and happily filled their pails.